Why fantasy football is fun

Most people that join Fantasy Football put money in, believing that they have a relatively good chance of winning some more. Some of these individuals have made a career out of playing Fantasy Football. Not to mention that even if you win, a portion of your winnings needs to be set aside for taxes. A big part of the excitement surrounding Fantasy Football is its cash prizes. This is, in part, why the game can be incredibly addictive.

Somewhat similar to poker, players succeed through skill and experience. Additionally, they need knowledge of the NFL and its players to win monetary rewards. Many players sink hours into setting up their fantasy teams and perfecting their virtual lineups. Some players have gotten so drawn into betting, they have acquired tens of thousands of dollars of debt.

Incredibly profitable, only the law separates Fantasy Football from gambling. For many, watching professional football is about sticking with your team and sharing that love for them with fellow devoted fans. In contrast, Fantasy Football is all about individual players, completely irrespective of what team they play for.

For instance, Fantasy Football players can find themselves rooting against the actual NFL teams they previously supported if one of their fantasy draft players is on the opposing side during a real game.

Many prefer to stay glued to their phones, monitoring every point their fantasy team scores, rather than enjoying the actual, professional sport for what it is. The fantasy game has made many fans far less interested in the live football experience.

In head to head, you compete against a single opponent and the team with the most points wins the matchup. Your skill position will earn points for stats they accumulated during the game.

Quarterbacks will get points for throwing a touchdown, yardage totals, or possibly earn negative points for interceptions. Some leagues add everything from completions to sacks taken.

Running backs will earn points for each yard gained via a rush, as well as touchdowns scored. Likewise, a receiver, be it backs, wideout or tight end, will earn similar amounts for catching passes.

Points per reception have become the industry standard, which is just a point earned for catching a pass.

This change helped to bring receiving scoring more in line with rushing, which historically dominated fantasy football. At the end of the week, the team with the most points gets a victory. League Size and Roster Settings. A typical league is 10 or 12 team managers, with a man roster with anywhere from to players being rostered at any given time. You will generally be starting nine players: a single QB, two RBs and WRs, a single TE and a kicker and a team defense, and you may have a flex position where you can play anyone except a QB.

In recent years, and as the availability of good quarterbacks has exploded, leagues have begun to allow a quarterback in the flex spot or require that two QBs start each week. Leagues can add more starters to present more of a challenge to owners, or remove some of the requirements to make the league flexible.

From here leagues can vary in size and scope, with leagues that roster 20, 30, or even 40 players or leagues that add team owners. Both expand the number of players that are rostered, which increases the amount of fantasy-relevant players you can keep track of. If you are confident in your football knowledge, a deeper league may be the challenge you are looking for. How do I acquire players?

There are two types of drafts to acquire your initial roster: snake style and auction. Snake drafts organize teams into a specific spot in the order, from first to last.

The league takes turns drafting players one after the other for a single round. Then the round reverses and the owner that picked last in the previous round goes first in the next, and so on until the draft concludes. This is called a snake style draft and is a straightforward way to draft teams but there are endless strategies to success.

This is where new players should begin. An auction draft is just what you would expect from the name. Managers are each given the same amount of virtual cash to bid on players to fill their roster.

Managers take turns nominating players to put on the auction board, and the highest bid wins. Bids continue to rise as long as an owner ups the ante. The strategy comes in managing your bankroll, how and when you nominate players, and knowing where your fellow drafters stand. This is an advanced type of league but something every fantasy player should experience. The week will run from Thursday to Monday, then reset for the following week.

Each week will follow a similar schedule until you get into the playoffs weeks later in the year. Prior to the kickoff of the first game of the week, owners will set a lineup of players to activate for the week. As discussed previously, owners will generally start a specified number of players at each position. All remaining players will be on your bench. Did your fantasy football season end too soon? Were you left to dwell on a lost campaign after Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady smashed your championship dreams?

Did every running back on your entire roster get hurt? Well, your fantasy season doesn't have to end on a sour note.

Here are 9 reasons why Fantasy football is far and away the best fantasy sport on this big, blue marble, but it's also the one with the shortest time span. You're playing in fantasy games and if you're lucky, your team makes it to the league championship in Week But if you're a smart owner, you know how to extend your fantasy football experience all the way into the Super Bowl see, that's what's we call a tease in the business.

But we all have to wait a few more months before we even think about picking him in our fantasy baseball drafts. So why not keep the fantasy football excitement going as long as possible? Let's be honest, any day without playing a fantasy sport just isn't the same. Admit it. If you're a fantasy football freak, chances are you have seen all of the new "Star Wars" movies more than once. Or 10 times. I wonder if there was fantasy football on Jakku? I'm guessing Rey would have dominated, but I could see Kylo Ren being a sore loser and taking his lightsaber to the keyboard.

We all love the NFL. But for the fantasy sports generation, can you imagine watching games without there being some sort of fantasy involvement? I don't know about you, but I can't.